What if 99 Problems
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if it took place pre-series, Stanford era?  Very AU. Chapter 4 of 4 up
1. The Proposal

What if it took place pre-series, Stanford Era?

Sam nervously fumbled in his pocket. He had been planning this for weeks. He looked over at Jessica.

Jessica was nervous, too. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

Sam pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it to display a diamond ring. "Jessica, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Jessica screamed and threw her arms around his neck.

Sam laughed and hugged her back.

SSS

Two months later

"Sam, we really need to get going on our wedding plans," Jessica said.

"Well, it's going to have to be simple," Sam stated the obvious. Jessica's parents had died when she was a kid. She hadn't had any other family and had been brought up in the foster care system. She was at Stanford on a scholarship, too.

"That's OK. I don't need anything fancy. I just want a few of our friends to be able to share in our happiness," Jessica paused for a second. She had been wanting to ask this for a while. "What about your father and brother? I haven't even met them. I'm sure they would want to be at your wedding. Have you even told them about me?"

"I haven't talked to them at all since my dad kicked me out of the house." Sam had to admit that he missed Dean. He missed his father, too, but it was easier to admit that he missed Dean because he thought maybe Dean missed him, too.

Jessica decided to drop the subject. She didn't have any family and thought it would be odd to throw one away. But, she also didn't know what exactly had happened. Sam never talked about his father. For all she knew he abused him. She had had one foster father who liked to hit her and even if he had been her real father she would never have forgiven him.

"We just need to decide where to get married and who's going to perform the ceremony. I've never been to church in my life. Have you?" Jessica asked.

Sam remembered their old friend Pastor Jim in Blue Earth, Minnesota. "Actually I have," he said. " An old family friend is a minister. I haven't spoken to him since the fight with my dad, but I'd love it if he would marry us."

"Well, spring break is next week. Why don't we visit him and see if he can perform a small ceremony this summer," Jessica suggested.

"OK," Sam smiled. And maybe Pastor Jim would call his dad and Dean and maybe they would call him. He knew it was a big maybe but it was better than crawling back to his dad on his own.

SSS

Sam and Jessica pulled up in front of the small church that Jim had been pastor of for the past 30 years. He came out to greet them.

"Sam, I was so happy to hear from you. It's been a long time. This must be Jessica," he said as he looked at the young woman in front of him. She was very beautiful. He hoped she was just as beautiful on the inside.

"Nice to meet you," Jessica said, shyly. She had never spoken to a minister before and she was afraid he might be judging her.

A girl a couple of years younger than Sam and Jessica's age came out. "Hi, Sam," she said.

"Leah?" Sam asked. He hadn't seen Pastor Jim's niece in a long time. She had really grown up.

"Yep. It's me. I heard you were getting married. Now I guess my lifelong dream is dashed," she smiled at Jessica to show she was just teasing.

"Jessica, this is Leah, Pastor Jim's niece."

"Why don't you girls go get acquainted. I want to talk to Sam for a few minutes," Jim said.

"OK," Leah said and took Jessica's arm in hers and led her to the local ice cream stand.

"What's up?" Sam asked, hoping it was news about his family. He realized he didn't even know for sure if they were still alive. It was kind of a dangerous profession.

"I would have called you and told you not to come, but our cell towers haven't been working. You should probably leave," Jim began.

"Why? What's going on?" Sam asked.

"Leah has been getting visions of demon attacks. And they're all around the area. It's like they've declared war."

"Why?" Sam asked, dreading the answer.

"I think it's the Apocalypse."


	2. Unexpected Visitors

Dean and John had been tracking demon omens and they led them straight to Blue Earth. "I hope Pastor Jim is OK," Dean said for the hundredth time. He liked the old man, even if he was a bit strict and evangelistic.

"Looks like it," John said as he spotted Jim. "I wonder who he's talking to."

Jim looked past Sam to the approaching car. Sam heard it. It sounded like his dad's Impala, but he was sure a lot of cars sounded like that. He was afraid to turn around. He didn't know if he wanted it to be them or if he didn't.

"Jim, can we have a word?" John asked getting out of the car. He didn't want to start talking about demons in front of some random civilian.

That did it. Sam knew that voice. He was still scared to turn around, though. He wasn't sure if he would see an expression of welcome or disappointment.

"Are you here about the demons?" Jim asked.

John looked at Dean and shrugged. Apparently they could speak freely in front of the stranger. John found it odd that he hadn't turned around to see who was there, though. He couldn't be a hunter. No hunter would go so long without checking all of his surroundings.

Finally, Sam turned around. "Hey, Dad, Dean," he said.

"Sam, what the hell are you doing here?" John asked. These were no ordinary demon omens. They were massive. Sam had been out of hunting for a while. He didn't want him anywhere near here.

"Just here for a visit. But now that I know about the demons, I'll be leaving," Sam said. He hadn't seen his father in four years and all he can say is what the hell are you doing here? Typical.

"Sammy, wait," Dean said. He didn't want Sam around the mega-demon showdown either, but he wanted to talk to him. He followed Sam as he walked purposefully somewhere.

"Are you OK? How have you been?" Dean asked.

"I'm better than OK," Sam beamed. "I just got engaged. That's why I was here. Jessica and I want Pastor Jim to marry us this summer." Then he frowned. "If the world is still around this summer."

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked.

"Pastor Jim thinks the Apocalypse is starting."

"Well, there are some pretty heavy demon omens, but you know Pastor Jim. He's always been a fire and brimstone, sky is falling kind of person. He's a good guy, though."

"Jessica," Sam said to get her attention. She had her backed turned to him and was eating a hot fudge sundae.

"Hey, sweetie. Leah was telling me some stories of when you were a kid."

"I'll have to thank her for that later," Sam grimaced.

Leah laughed. "Nothing bad. I promise."

"Hey, Leah, it's been about a year, I guess. How's it going?" Dean asked.

"Good. Have you met Jessica, Sam's fiancé?" she asked.

"No," Sam answered. "Jess, this is my brother, Dean."

Jessica was startled. She hadn't been expecting this. She wondered if Pastor Jim had called his family and set this up.

"I'm so happy to meet you," Jessica said, and meant it. Sam had always made clear that the fight was with his dad not with his brother. He idolized his brother, but had been cut off from his family.

"You are wait out of my brother's league," Dean said.

"Shut up," Sam said, knowing Dean was right. Jessica was way too good for him.

"Are you coming to our wedding?" Jessica asked.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. When is it?"

"July 17th," Sam said. "You'll be here?"

"Yes. Dad, too," Dean said.

"If he wants," Sam said, doubtfully.

"You should say bye to Dad before you leave," Dean said. He would love it if his father and brother could patch things up. It would make his life so much easier. He had called Sam once a couple of years ago and when his dad had found out had blown a gasket. He called Dean disloyal. He hadn't called again since, but the truth was his loyalty was seriously divided.

"Your dad's here? What do you mean before we leave?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, my dad's here. He doesn't want us around," Sam said. "Let's just leave."

Leah clutched her head. Sam remembered that before his dad had shown up, Pastor Jim had told him that Leah got a headache before she got a vision of where the demons would be. He looked at Dean and mouthed the words "demon vision" so that Dean would get the picture without having to alert Jessica to anything.

"Are you OK?" Jessica asked.

"She gets really bad migraines," Dean said. "Maybe you guys can help me get her back to the house before you take off."

"Of course," Sam said. He was anxious to get Jessica to safety, but a few minutes couldn't hurt.


	3. A Traitor Among Them

"Jessica, can you go in the other room and get us an ice pack?" Pastor Jim asked as they settled Leah. He had to find out what she had to say, but didn't want Jessica to hear.

Jessica left for the other room. Once she was gone, Leah said, "The demons, they're surrounding the town. There are hundreds of them."

"Where are they exactly, Leah?" Jim asked, knowing she always seemed to know the exact locations.

"There are demons posted at every road out of town."

"OK, we'll get some groups together and go on the offensive at each road. Sam, Leah, and Jessica will have to stay here."

"Are you sure? It sounds like you could use all the help you can get," Sam pointed out.

"No. You've been out for too long. You'd be a liability." It was the first thing John had said to him since their earlier encounter.

Jessica returned with the ice pack. "Jessica, we're going to be going out for a while. We were hoping you and Sam could stay and look after Leah."

"Of course," Jessica said and looked at Sam, who nodded.

The hunters left. Five minutes later, Leah sat up. "Are you feeling better?" Jessica asked.

"I never felt bad," Leah said, and looked at Sam and Jessica with completely black eyes.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Jessica asked, worried about her.

Sam, of course, knew exactly what was wrong with her. "Jess, let's go," he said grabbing her arm.

"I don't think so," Leah said and put out her hand and flung them to the floor in the middle of the room. Then she spoke an incantation and a cage of fire formed around them.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

Jessica could do nothing but stare in wonder. She was even more confused by the fact that Sam seemed to understand at least some of what was going on.

"We've been working on breaking the 66 seals to free Lucifer. Once he's free, in order to stay up, he needs to sacrifice the two chosen children."

"Chosen children?" Sam asked.

"Yes, 22 years ago a demon came into both of your nurseries. He dripped demon blood into your mouths, marking you for life. Unfortunately for you, your mothers walked in and had to be killed."

"What?" Jessica asked. She was so confused by all this demon talk. Normally, she would think this girl was off her rocker, but there was the matter of the cage of fire. That put a whole new light on things.

"Your lives have just been preparation for this moment," the demon went on. "We wanted you together when the time came, so many events in your life were demon-manipulated."

Sam was mad. His love for Jessica was the one pure thing in his life. To find out that it had been tainted by demons was too much to contemplate.

"Well, the last seal should be broken within the next couple of hours. I'm going to leave you here where Lucifer will easily be able to find you." With that, Leah's mouth opened and black smoke poured out. She collapsed to the floor.

"Leah?" Sam said. There was no response. From inside the cage, there was no way for him to tell if she was dead or just unconscious.

SSS

"So, when did these demon attacks start?" John asked.

"About a week ago. Leah showed up out of the blue and started telling me about her visions."

"How could you let Sam come here with all this going on?" John asked. They had been scouting for demons along the road, but hadn't seen anything yet.

"When Sam called nothing was going on yet. Now, that I think of it, Leah showed up about 15 minutes later. I tried to call him, but the phone lines and cell towers were out."

"Have her visions ever been wrong?" Dean asked. He had no patience and was wondering where the demons that were supposed to be here were.

"No. The demons have always been where she said they would be. I don't understand this."

"Let's go back. We can escort Sam and Jessica out of here, since the roads don't seem to be blocked yet," Dean suggested. He didn't know why, but all of a sudden he was worried about his brother.

"Good idea," John said. He didn't want Sam anywhere near demons. Not right now.

SSS

"Sam, you didn't seem confused by everything that was going on," Jessica said.

Sam sighed. This was how they were going to spend the last couple hours of their lives—confessions. "My dad raised me to hunt things like ghosts and demons. That was what the big fight was about. I didn't want to do it anymore and he called me an ungrateful brat and told me to never come back." It still hurt.

"So, they're here to hunt demons?" Jessica surmised.

"Yeah. Leah was having visions and knew where the demons were going to be. No mystery as to how that happened, seeing as she was one of them.

They saw the door open and Dean walked in followed by Jim and John. "Sammy, what's going on?" he asked, seeing the fire cage around Sam and Jessica and Leah on the floor. Jim was already approaching Leah to check her pulse.

"Is she dead?" Jessica asked.

Jim choked back a sob and nodded. His only sister's only daughter, she had been very special to him.

"She was possessed," Sam said. "They're starting the Apocalypse and Lucifer is supposed to be free in a couple of hours. He's coming here to sacrifice me and Jessica."

"Why?" Dean asked. Then he wondered what difference that made. Clearly, they just had to worry about how to stop it.

Sam didn't answer that. "She said that they're breaking the last seal and when they're done Lucifer will rise. Any idea what she's talking about?" Sam asked Jim.

"Yeah, legend is that there are 66 seals to break before Lucifer can be set free. I have no idea what the last one is."

"It's going to happen in Wyoming," John said.

"How do you know?" Jim asked.

"The demon omens Dean and I were tracking, some led here, some led to Wyoming."

"Well, you'll never get there in time," Sam said.


	4. One Big Problem

"Why is Lucifer going to sacrifice you?" Dean asked again.

"It's the only way he can stay topside," Sam said.

"That's right," Jim said. "The chosen ones must be sacrificed within 24 hours of the rising, or Lucifer will be locked up forever with no possibility of regaining his freedom."

"OK, then the first thing we have to do is get them out of that cage," John said, wondering about the whole chosen ones comment, but decided to not worry about it for now.

"Water?" Dean asked. Water put out fire.

"Worth a try," John said.

Jim ran out to the garage for some buckets and filled them with water. John, Dean, and Jim all took a bucket and simultaneously threw the contents onto the cage. Each side jumped in five inches, making Sam and Jessica's prison smaller. They now barely had any room at all.

"Well, that didn't work," Dean said, unnecessarily.

Sam shifted a little and ended up hitting his arm on one of the bars. "Aargh," he yelped. That had really hurt. He had been wondering, if they could just walk through the flames to the other side, but that had been a solid stop. So, at least he knew that wouldn't work.

"You OK?" Jessica asked.

Sam nodded. "Be careful, though, you don't want to touch."

"Maybe you should kill me now. Then the devil can't sacrifice me and stay topside," Sam suggested. He also thought maybe he wouldn't bother sacrificing Jessica, although, he had to admit to himself, that he would just out of spite.

"No," Dean said. He was not killing his brother. They might not have spoken in the last couple of years, but his job was always to keep Sam safe.

"I don't want to any more than you do, but we need to consider it," John said.

Sam fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course his father would be up for this plan.

"No," Dean said again.

"Dean, I would rather you or dad kill me then the devil," Sam said. "We're sitting ducks here and there is obviously no way out."

"We could try…," Dean trailed off. He knew there had to be a way, but he didn't know what.

"Can't just try things, Dean. You saw what happened last time. One more jump in like that and we're going to literally be squeezed by the flames.

Jessica shuddered when she heard that. Not only had her mother died in a fire when she was six months old, but when she was five, her father had fallen asleep, drunk, smoking a cigarette and set the house on fire. The firemen got her out, but her father had died. And she had spent two weeks in a the burn unit at the hospital. Luckily there was no permanent damage.

"Oh, nice to see I have an audience."

Everyone turned to see the figure standing in the corner. He was huge and glowed red. No mistaking who that was.

"Leave my brother alone," Dean said.

The devil rolled his eyes. He flung the three hunters into the wall. "I hope you have a good view."

He threw out his hand and the fire walls disappeared. Sam and Jessica were rooted to the floor. Lucifer approached them.

"Sam, run!" Dean yelled.

"Can't," Sam said in a trembling voice. He took Jessica's hand in his and squeezed it. She turned to him and smiled and squeezed it back.

Unnoticed by the devil, Jim was muttering under his breath. Lucifer slowly approached his two sacrifices. He was going to enjoy this. He hadn't been able to kill anyone in two millennia. Just as he was within inches of the frightened couple, he disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Sam asked, not that he was complaining.

"I just recited the devil exorcism," Jim said. "He's back in his cage, but he can come back. If he gets back up here within the next 24 hours he could still make the sacrifice."

"Well, we should leave, then," Dean said.

"We still can't move," Sam noted, after trying.

"Yes, anything the devil did will remain in place until his time is up," Jim said.

"How do you know all this?" John asked.

"I found some ancient texts a while back. This was all spelled out in them."

"What does he have to do to get back out again?" Sam asked.

"Not him. The demons."

"Well, will they know that he's not up here anymore?" John asked.

"I have no idea. We'll just have to wait."

"Sam, I just want you to know, I'm sorry," John said.

"What?" Sam thought he must have misheard. His father had never said that to him before.

"I didn't mean to get so mad when you left. But with all the evil I've seen in the world, I was worried about you," John explained.

"But you didn't want me around here either," Sam said.

"Yeah, the place is crawling with demons. I wanted you safe."

Sam didn't know what to say to that. He realized that he had probably never understood his father at all.

"I don't mean to be a pain, but I'm hungry," Sam said. Jessica had had that sundae earlier, but he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

"I'll get you something," Jim said and went to the kitchen.

"So, how did you two meet?" Dean asked. They had to kill time somehow. Plus, he was interested in Sammy's life.

Sam and Jessica exchanged a look, now that they had learned the truth of their being together. "Our friend Brady introduced us," Sam finally said.

"What?" John asked. He could tell something was going on.

"The demon that was in Leah said that we were manipulated to be together," Sam said.

"Why? Why were you two the chosen ones?"

Sam decided it was best to pull the bandaid off fast. "When we were babies a demon came into our bedrooms and dripped demon blood into our mouths."

"So, you have demon blood in you?" John asked.

Sam looked down.

"Doesn't change anything, Sammy," Dean said, glaring at his father.

"Of course not," John agreed. "Just trying to get all the info. We might need it."

Jim walked back in the room with a couple of sandwiches. He handed them to Sam and Jessica.

They ate in silence.

SSS

24 Hours later

They had spent the time alternately talking and getting to know Jessica, and just communing in silence. Nobody had slept, though. Suddenly, Sam and Jessica felt the hold break and they fell to their knees.

"It's over," Jim said.

They had made wedding plans and Dean and John both promised to be there. Sam and Jessica were determined to be happy no matter how they had met. They decided it didn't matter.

John was worried about the demon blood. He hoped there were no ill effects later.

The End


End file.
